Jay Goyal

To my fellow folks at corporates: design partnerships aren't charity. They're options. And most large organizations are leaving them on the table. I see a lot of startups in new energy and advanced hardware with real money behind them and technology that's clearly legit, but it's too early to deploy. So the corporate says "come back when you're production-ready" and moves on. I think that's backwards. A design partnership costs a few hours of your team's time. You tell the company where you'd want it to go and what would make you a customer someday. Nothing binding, no procurement process. What you get is a say in the roadmap, a head start on a technology your competitors will want in two years, and a spot as the reference customer if it works. If it doesn't, you lost an afternoon. The companies that figure this out spend attention early, not money. They're first in line when the tech is ready. Everyone who waited for "production-ready" is in a queue behind them. A few hours of your time against a seat at the table for the next decade. That's not a close call.

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Many founders believe product management is mainly about building the right features. But at some point every company discovers the real challenge: product sits at the intersection of strategy, sales, engineering, and leadership expectations. A few months ago I read a thoughtful article by Shreyas Doshi called “The Product Builder’s True Journey.” that captures this reality well. The journey of a product builder is not just about learning frameworks. - It's about learning how organizations actually work. The most difficult product problems I’ve seen in scale-ups rarely came from users or technology. They came from misalignment between teams. Worth a read for anyone building or leading product teams.

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Steve Jobs' most defining design quote: "Design is not just what it looks like and feels like. Design is how it works" In most teams I’ve been part of, the quote never fully translated to reality. Designs often became “half-alive” by the time they shipped. Full design but half code. Excited to see noon.design take a real swing at fixing that. I have been closely watching this from the idea stage to launch — super happy to see this go live 🚀 I’ve known Kushagra Sinha for more than 6 years now. I’ve had the chance to work with him earlier. It’s no surprise he’s going after something this fundamental and one thing that stands out is how deeply he cares about the craft of building products. And knowing Shreyas Arunkumar, I can only imagine the level of execution that’s gone into making this real. The design → code gap has always felt “half-alive” in real-world products. The quote feels real now. I can see it coming through life with noon.design Big day for you guys—congrats! 🙌 🥳

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Hike Medical does it again… attracting world class operators and technologists like Sriny Sundararajan as Chief Robotics Officer. The company built a next gen manufacturing facility in 100 days and now Sriny will help us build every bespoke medical device at the cost of mass market manufacturing.

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What if I told you that the real reason we built WedZat had nothing to do with features? In the whirlwind of startup culture, it’s easy to get swept up in the chase for the next big thing. But at WedZat, we realized that true value lies in understanding our users and their needs. When we set out to create our platform, we focused on more than just functionality. We listened closely to our community, gathering feedback and insights that shaped our vision. One of our key takeaways? Flexibility is essential. The market shifts quickly, and we needed to adapt just as fast. This meant prioritizing decision-making processes that allowed us to pivot when necessary, rather than getting bogged down in endless debates. Take the example of a small wedding planner we worked with. They shared their struggles with managing multiple clients and timelines. By integrating their feedback, we developed features that simplified their workflow, making their lives easier and their businesses more successful. At the end of the day, it’s about building relationships and creating solutions that resonate. So, what’s the biggest lesson you’ve learned from listening to your customers? #StartupLife #CustomerFeedback #Entrepreneurship #WedZat #Innovation

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I led a 100+ member team. Your first 12 hires decide your next 120. When we started AglaSem, we stayed small by design. For almost a year, we were around 10–12 people. Each person was carefully selected because I knew these were the people who would define how the company operated at scale. Here is exactly what I did. 1. Screened profiles myself. I personally went through CVs in detail. When I called someone, it was after serious evaluation. 2. Used the first call to assess clarity. I asked basic questions and listened closely to how clearly they explained their work. I wanted people who could understand instructions quickly and respond precisely. (🌟 This step with one quick 5-minute call, pre-defined questions, saves you 2 hour per candidate who - even if they pass all tests - would fail when they actually join. ) 3. Defined week-one expectations before the interview. Bootstrapped profitable startups such as ours don't have the luxury of 6-months training and then action timelines. Everyone had to contribute early. Before interviewing, I was clear about what I expected from that role in the first week. During the interview, I tested for ownership of those exact responsibilities. 4. Conducted every final interview and closed decisions fast. I personally interviewed each candidate. Once the final evaluation was done, I almost alwats discussed it with my co-founder, and communicated decisions to the candidate quickly. 🌟Till date, I have interviewed over 850 people (maybe that's why I still love interviewing people, whether it be for hiring or podcasts!).🌟 As we grew from 12 to 50 and eventually to 120, I stayed closely involved in hiring. ========= But why is this so important at least for the first 12 hires? The first 12 hires set the standard for performance, ownership, and quality. Every new team member observed them. They learned how work was done. They absorbed what was considered acceptable. That early standard shaped the next 120 more than any policy document ever could. ========= In your #startup, are you or any of the co-founders closely involved in the hiring process? What have you learnt so far? 🌟I love helping out a fellow leader. If you are scaling, and need any guidance on hiring decisions, DM me. 🌟

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